Decarbonizing Heavy Industry: Antora Energy’s 2400°C Thermal Batteries

Hardware to Save a Planet · 24 Apr 2025 · 37m · Episode 77

What this episode covers

Nehali Jain, Chief of Staff at Antora Energy, explains how the company uses thermal batteries to store renewable electricity as heat in carbon blocks reaching 2,400°C for decarbonizing heavy industry. She details the choice of abundant carbon for its high energy density and safety, the modular design of the 'Heat Core' product, and the company's 'heat as a service' business model. Jain discusses the transition from pilot deployments to serial production and the strategic focus on solving industrial intermittency with cost-effective thermal storage.

Other shows on the same ground, closest first.

  • The Next Byte Podcast · 24m

    138. How Thermal Batteries Will Scale Sustainable Energy ☀️🔋

    Hosts Daniel and For Bode discuss Antora Energy, a startup founded by MIT alumni Kearns and Beerman, which uses thermal batteries to solve renewable energy intermittency. The technology stores excess solar and wind power as heat in carbon blocks and converts it back to electricity using thermal photovoltaics, offering a longer-lasting and more recyclable alternative to chemical batteries. The hosts highlight the company's recent Series A funding, new manufacturing plant, and upcoming industrial projects targeting the chemical and food sectors.

  • Catalyst · 46m

    Solving the conundrum of industrial heat

    John O'Donnell, co-founder and CEO of Rondo Energy, explains how thermal storage can decarbonize industrial heat by bridging the gap between intermittent renewable electricity and the continuous, high-temperature energy required by factories. He details the economic and technical challenges of industrial processes, noting that while direct electrification is possible, it is often insufficient for 24/7 operations without storage. O'Donnell highlights Rondo's use of solid-state thermal storage to achieve over 95% efficiency, enabling facilities to leverage cheap, intermittent wind and solar power for continuous production. The conversation also explores the emerging trend of industrial grid defection, where facilities build behind-the-meter renewables to avoid rising transmission costs and secure low-cost energy.

  • How I Built This · 35m

    Unlocking the renewable energy revolution with Ramya Swaminathan of Malta Inc.

    Ramya Swaminathan, CEO of Malta Inc., explains how her company uses molten salt to provide low-cost, long-duration energy storage for the grid, spinning out of Google X in 2018. She details the technical advantages of thermal storage over lithium-ion batteries, specifically regarding scalability and supply chain security, and discusses the company's transition from pilot validation to commercial deployment. Swaminathan also reflects on her previous ventures in hydrokinetic power and the challenges of integrating renewable energy into the existing US grid infrastructure.

  • Hard Tech Podcast · 27m

    Andrei Klochko: Reversible Heat Pumps, Decarbonization, and Earth vs Mars | Hard Tech Podcast #6

    Andrei Klochko, founder and CEO of Airthium, explains his company's reversible heat pump technology, which converts electricity to heat and vice versa using a modified Ericsson cycle with fast near-isothermal compression. He argues that decarbonizing industrial processes, particularly by replacing natural gas in food and agro-industry steam generation, is critical for fixing Earth rather than focusing on Mars colonization. Klochko discusses the economic drivers of carbon taxes in Europe, the technical advantages of his engine over Stirling cycles, and the need for long-term energy storage solutions like hydrogen in salt caverns to balance intermittent renewable sources.

  • Catalyst · 49m

    What do you do with a 100-hour battery?

    Mateo Jaramillo, CEO and co-founder of Form Energy, explains why 100-hour 'multi-day' iron-air batteries are necessary to displace mid-merit gas plants during prolonged weather events that lithium-ion cannot economically cover. He details Form's cost targets of $20/kW for these systems and their specific value propositions for utilities like Georgia Power and Xcel Energy in managing load growth, decarbonization, and transmission congestion. Jaramillo also discusses the competitive landscape, including hydrogen and carbon capture, and the operational reality of dispatching these assets for both capacity reliability and seasonal energy shifting.

The summary, chapters and topics are generated from the episode’s audio by this directory, not written by Hardware to Save a Planet. The episode itself belongs to its publisher.